9 Golf Swing Tips that will Really Improve Your Game

Published February 1, 2018

Hit Your Driver Long and Straight on Every Hole

Your driver is the crucial start to almost every hole of golf. If you can hit with distance and control your scores improve rapidly. When your drives stray wildly off the course with either a hook or slice your game and score are destroyed. These few golf swing tips to improve your driving skills can help lower your score, and give you more confidence on each tee box.

1. Hold your driver with soft hands. You have read it many times, and probably been told by instructors. Grip your driver softly but firmly. Imagine trying to hold a new born kitten in your hand so it does not escape but you do not harm it. This is the proper strength of grip, strong and gentle at the same time.

2. Swing smoothly and with ease. Imagine your swing as a gently flowing pendulum swinging through the ball. Do not try to swing with vicious power, but instead choose to create a fast, smooth, effortless swing through the ball. As you improve your drives you can slowly increase the speed and power even further, but always focusing on the smooth line of the club through the ball.

3. Make sure you setup properly for the drive. Step up to the ball with your feet about shoulder distance apart. The ball should be about 5 inches towards your front foot, not centered, and definitely not toward the back foot. You want your swing to have just passed the bottom and be started on a slight upward path when it contacts the golf ball. Make sure to keep your knees loose, not locked. Slightly bent knees allow for a smoother transition through your swing.

4. Make sure your stance is setup square to the target. You need to establish your feet so a club laid at your toes would point straight to your target. Your shoulders need to be square to the target, too. This will help keep your club flowing squarely through the ball instead of hitting the ball at an angle sending it spinning into a slice or hook.

5. One of the most important golf swing tips for hitting a drive straight is getting the proper driver. An over-sized driver with a larger sweet spot will rapidly improve your game. While most people buy these drivers hoping for more distance, your first focus should be on making every drive straight. The larger sweet spot is going to allow you to drive the ball straighter consistently which is the key to lowering your score. After you have practiced a while with your new driver you can begin to increase club speed to increase length while remaining focused on accuracy.

6. Buy high quality clubs. This does not mean you need to spend a lot of money, but if you are currently playing with old clubs with stiff shafts, small heads, or are showing wear you are handicapping yourself right out of the blocks. You need to have clubs which fit your grip, are the proper length, and are properly balanced to have a smooth almost effortless golf swing.

7. Keep your knees bent through your entire swing. Do you have a problem with topping the ball? When you consistently hear the sound of a thud on top of your golf ball and send it scorching the grass instead of flying through the air it almost certain you are standing up during your swing. Learn to focus on keeping your body down through the entire swing.

8. Are you guilty of killing worms with your golf ball? Not only must you keep your knees bent, you must properly setup for your golf swing. Ball placement within your stance is critical. For a wedge through your 8 iron place the ball in the middle of your stance. For the 7 iron to 5 iron place the ball forward about 1 1/2 inches, approximately one ball width. The 4 iron to fairway woods should be another ball width towards the front foot. For your drivers place your golf ball one more ball width towards to the front toe. This position of the ball helps to make sure you properly strike the ball getting lift and proper flight.

9. Slow down your back swing. Many golfers are guilty of having a very fast back swing equating speed going back with speed coming down. What you will discover is a fast back swing leads to throwing off your balance and alignment on the shot. Bring the club back slowly and high, then swing rapidly but smoothly back down through the ball.

These 9 simple golf swing tips for improving the accuracy of your driving can help you lower scores and increase your enjoyment of golf. When the ball stays on the fairway each shot becomes easier. It is time for you to hit the driving range and get in a few extra buckets of balls and improve your game.